This Spring, seven Chaplin students will begin management training programs at some of the top hotel chains in the world. Ashley Yenkiah, Kasner Myrie, Ana Ramos, Saul Darias, Luis Galindez, Phillip Spottswood and Corey Shield each beat out hundreds of candidates from hospitality management schools across the country to become one of the few selected for these highly-coveted positions. Six of these seniors will be joining Marriott International, while Saul Darias will join Hilton.
Along with hard work and determination, they all credit their success to the guidance and mentoring of the team at the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation Career Development Program.
Kasner Myrie will be joining the Marriott Voyage Global Leadership Development Program this Spring as a Rooms Operations Voyager for the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway. After applying for the program in his senior year, he turned to the career services office for help.
“Kathy was a mentor to me,” Myrie said. Kathy Martin works directly with students as a Career Development Coordinator at the Chaplin School.“She provided great feedback and practiced with me on questions that I was not familiar with. She really pushed for me to pursue this goal and not quit when there were times I felt discouraged.”
Management training programs like the Marriott Voyage program are a great way for students to jump-start their careers, and they give hotels a way to nurture and develop individuals who are driven and passionate about hospitality. These seven students will join a growing force of elite Chaplin graduates who will go on to become leaders at some of the most prestigious hotel and resort brands around the world.
“We’re developing our future leaders,” said Betty Ann Phillips, a university relations manager for Marriott International. “We know that we need these educated leaders to come in and grow with our company. They’re going to be part of our future success.”
Ana Ramos will also be joining the Marriott Voyage program this spring at the Residence Inn Miami Beach.
“[The Chaplin School career councelors] helped me prepare with mock interviews and, honestly, if it wasn’t for the team, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity,” she said. “I’m so grateful to them.”
Before becoming a voyager, Ramos was already working with Marriott as a Front Desk Agent for the Courtyard Marriott key Largo. As luck would have it, her general manager, Miguel Waldo ‘99, is also a Chaplin alumnus. Although he recognizes that Ana has a wonderful demeanor and a contagiously upbeat personality, her education at Chaplin was one of the reasons he hired her.
“Because I was a student there, I know that the teachers are top notch,” Waldo said. “I know that those students have a great chance of succeeding in the Hospitality Industry.”
The only regret Waldo now has, is that he’ll need to find Ana’s replacement. Luckily, there’s never a shortage of well-prepared students for him to choose from.
“I wish I had two or three more Ana’s,” he joked. “But, if somebody walked in the door with Chaplin on their resume, I would very strongly consider them.”
